Now and Always
by Lady Asher
Summary: It was just a dream - no, a nightmare. And she was safe, because that sort of thing only happened in dreams, and so of course it wasn't real... But if nothing is ever as it seems, then where lies the line between reality... and dreams?
1. Chapter 1: Dreams

_Disclaimer: The movie Labyrinth is property of Henson, Lucas, and Froud. I just play around with it because it's fun._

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_Chapter One: Dreams_

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Her dress was white. That was the first thing she noticed. The second thing she noticed was that she couldn't see anything else. Only slightly above where she saw the hem of her dress and her feet resting on the dark hardwood floor, a field of gauzy white obscured her vision. She shook her head slightly, trying to dislodge the obstruction, and saw it move slightly.

There was a weight on her head. She became conscious of it as she moved; it was very slight, and it seemed to be resting around her forehead and slightly over her ears. She wondered what it was and, curious now, started to reach up to take it off…

But something was holding her hands. She couldn't see them, but the grasp was leathery and warm, holding tighter as she tried to move. She stilled with the realization, and the clasp lessened, leaving merely a slight pressure that seemed to radiate comfort and warmth. She relaxed. They were just hands, of course. No need to panic. It was nice to have someone hold her hands…

Someone was speaking. It was a nice voice, she thought, just musical enough to disguise the slight hint of a drone... She focused through the haze that enveloped her, trying to tell what it was saying. Only a few faint whispers slipped through the gauze: "…_have and… hold… this day forward…better, for…poorer, in sickness… cherish, 'til death…" _

There was another voice. She knew it instantly to be different from the first, for it was deeper, richer, and much closer, with a strange current running through it that distracted her from its strange familiarity. She was so focused on trying to identify why it made her shiver that she almost missed the words. _"For now and always." _

There was a pause, and then the first voice returned, far less clear than the other had sounded. _"Unusual…not tradition… potent enough…"_ It spoke on, but she paid no attention, distracted by the slowly growing wealth of impressions that were filtering through the snowy gauze. There was a slight breeze, a tiny breath of air that brought both the faint smell of roses and the tiniest of sounds that nonetheless spoke of a multitude not far away, most of them shifting ever so slightly in their seats…

The hands holding hers – they were still holding hers, weren't they? She squeezed them slightly, making sure, and was almost surprised when they squeezed hers in response – the hands holding hers were very warm. She could feel sweat just barely beginning to break out on her palms, and longed to take them and wipe them on her skirt, but she was distracted by something else that was already slick, something around her finger –

The second voice was speaking again, and the words were even clearer than before, capturing her wandering attention completely. The current of electricity running through it made her shiver, half with the sheer strangeness of it, and half with the pleasure of hearing his voice… _wait a minute_ –

But he was speaking, and so she focused on the words, hearing their cadence and recognizing through the fog that they, too, sounded familiar… "_…fear me, and love me, and do as I say, and I will be your slave…"_

Something was expected of her. She got the sudden sense that something around her was waiting, hanging on her next actions, but she didn't know what to do – the fog cleared slightly, and in front of her, she saw two words appear on the whiteness of it. She couldn't tell what they said at first, so she read them again, slowly, out loud – _"I do."_

She didn't realize how much her voice echoed until she used it. But there was no time to dwell on the fact that the space she was in suddenly seemed cavernous, the sound of her two small words bouncing off the walls and resonating from the high ceiling, for the first voice was speaking again, and it was taking all of her concentration to focus on the words that were suddenly as clear as day…

"_You may kiss the bride." _

The haze lifted. It was as if a curtain of gauze was slowly exposing itself to her limited vision, rising slowly as if savoring the moment… She could see even more of the floor now, and there were two shapes of black leather just a few feet away from her toes. Boots, they were boots, and now she could see the breeches above them, and the edge of the white dress shirt above that as her gaze followed the rising edge of gauze, mounting more swiftly now as though whatever was lifting it was growing impatient…

The veil was thrown over her head and her mind cleared at last with its removal, only to freeze as he smiled at her, teeth glittering and mismatched blue eyes wrought with triumph and… something else –

But she could not focus, for he was leaning closer, taking the single step required to bring him flush with her body as his arms went around her back and she automatically reached up to embrace him with her own. His gloved hand cupped her cheek, teasing her with its leathery warmth, and a single lock of blonde hair fell into his eyes as he leaned down…

The last thought she registered was _Oh no I'm married I'm married I'm married I'm__** married**__…_ _"For now and always,"_ he whispered, and then his lips descended on hers as the blackness of oblivion descended equally upon her mind.

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Sarah sat up, breathing hard. She glanced wildly around her room, searching desperately for a sign that it was all a dream, just a dream, _not real can't be real_…

She was in her bedroom. Her nice, warm, safe, _normal_ bedroom, not the cavernous, echoing hall she had just left, and Sarah shuddered with relief even as a slight smile came to her face. For there were her old books and toys, still hanging on the dingy walls despite the fact that she had been in college for a full year now….

Sarah smiled fully at the memories, relaxing now with a grateful sigh. _It was all a dream. Just a dream - no, a nightmare._ But she was safe, because that sort of thing only happened in dreams, and so of course it wasn't real... She relaxed even further, letting go of the terrified tension of what was after all _just a dream, only a dream_, and tiredly reached up to rub her face with her hands –

She froze. There was something cold on one of her fingers where she held it against her cheek. Slowly, oh so slowly, Sarah lowered her hands to her lap, not wanting to look but knowing she had to. _No, that's impossible, it was __**just a **_dream_… _

But a gold ring winked at her from the fourth finger of her left hand.

Sarah threw her head up wildly, searching for some sign that it wasn't true, couldn't be true… _all a dream just a dream can't be true - can't be __**real **__– _

There was a white dress hanging over the chair by her desk. _No. Oh, no, no, _no_– _

She started breathing hard, beginning to panic now and feeling her heartbeat quicken, and then she whirled at the sound of a sudden rustle behind her –

Jareth smiled at her from where he reclined on the bed, near-white hair mussed but mismatched blue eyes sparkling as he leaned forward, his words barely a whisper.

"_Good morning, Sarah. My Sarah."_ He paused a moment, only inches from her face, seemingly oblivious to the fact that she was frozen in shock and denial. _"__**My**__ Sarah. Mine, now and always."_ His smile widened. _"__**My wife**__."_

She found herself almost wishing she could feel the softness of his lips as inside she screamed and fell once again into darkness.

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_This idea was never intended to be actually given form, but after a certain friend got me hooked on Labyrinth fanfic, this started rattling around in my head and I finally wrote it down so it would stop demanding to be let out. It's just a oneshot, I wasn't planning on taking it anywhere, much less posting it, but that same friend wouldn't let me alone until I did... So many, many, many thanks to **Kali Rose**, for making me believe in my uber-mega-foxy-awesome writing skills__! Like I said, I wasn't planning on continuing this... but if it inspires you at all, feel free to continue it or make a spin-off, just please tell me first so I can read it! _

_And since I'm just as much a sucker for feedback as everybody else out there, I give you, my adoring fans, the ever-present authors' plea... _Please review!

_~Ash_


	2. Chapter 2: Tricks

_Disclaimer: The movie Labyrinth is property of Henson, Lucas, and Froud. Long may they reign...  


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_Chapter 2: Tricks

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Jareth grinned down at where the girl had fainted beneath him. "Silly child," he snickered, clambering off the bed and gazing at where she lay still and white against the old bedspread. "She didn't even realize that I was still fully clothed."

The goblins crowded onto the window sill laughed with their King. "A joke well played, sire!" one brave (or stupid) creature called over the snickering. But Jareth, still basking in the glow of having pulled one over on his sometime antagonist, took the comment in the spirit it was meant.

"Aye," he mused, looking at where Sarah's white party dress from the night before lay draped over a chair, "well-played indeed." He fingered the soft material thoughtfully, then glanced over at where the girl still lay unconscious from shock. Jareth shook his head. "Silly girl. She always was too easily persuaded to accept things as they seem."

One of the goblins hopped off the window sill and scurried over to where Sarah lay. Peering at the gold ring on her finger, he stole a quick glance at the distracted Goblin King and quickly snatched the metal band.

He was about to scurry away when Jareth turned and, quick as a striking snake, caught the creature's ear like a naughty child and hoisted him off the ground. "Now, now, is that any way to treat a lady? Stealing things right off her fingers?"

The goblin dangling from his fingers squeaked in terror. "Is not hers! Not hers, king's! Give back to king!"

Jareth glared down at the small creature. "If I have given something to her, then it is hers."

The goblin's ears (the one he was not currently hanging from, anyway) drooped. "But… me thought only for joke…"

Jareth sighed and lowered the goblin back to the ground. "At first, yes. But she should have something to remind her of – something to remind her not to take everything for granted."

As the goblin slowly relinquished the ring, Jareth reflected on his misstep. When he had felt her dream calling, as they so rarely did these days, he had followed it, meaning to simply observe. When he had seen the image, though, his magnificent throne room filled with pews full of goblins, and himself holding the hands of a woman in white, he couldn't help but step in.

When he had heard the words, unfamiliar but somehow _right_ in a way that he simply couldn't define, they had sparked a response in him that came almost unconsciously. And the sheer expression on her face when he had lifted the veil had brought to the surface the mischievous nature that had made Jareth the Goblin King.

So what else could he do but give the girl a good scare? After all, the chit deserved it after all she had put him through… So as Jareth felt her consciousness pull away, her own shock waking her up, he had pulled himself out of the dream and popped into her room to make a few necessary adjustments before taking his position just as the girl woke. Her slowly growing panic had gratified him, as had the pure shock on her face when she whirled and saw him in her bed… But he hadn't expected her to actually _faint._

Turning to look at where Sarah was still sprawled on the bed, Jareth chuckled again. "I suppose I should be gratified," he mused. "I've never had anyone faint from _almost_ being kissed before."

The goblins at the window cackled obligingly. The king waved them silent, seeing Sarah's eyes begin to move beneath her lids. Putting a finger to his lips, Jareth motioned his creatures out the window. He was about to follow them, congratulating himself on a job well done, when the girl on the bed behind him sighed softly, almost wistfully. Almost against his will he moved back to her side, looking down to where she lay, lips parted softly.

His expression softened. "Oh, Sarah," he murmured, her name sounding more a caress than a title. "You should remember that nothing is ever what it seems. You always did take things far too literally…"

Softly, in barely more than a whisper, Jareth finished the thought he had stopped earlier. "And you should have something to remind you of me."

Leaning down, the Goblin King softly brushed his lips against those of the sleeping maiden, then straightened, lingering for a moment with his hand against her cheek. Then he chuckled softly. "That's twice you've fainted when I tried to kiss you… I guess the third time's the charm."

Stroking the sleeping girl's face softly once, Jareth pulled himself away and turned with one last lingering look. In three brisk steps he was at the window. Not even breaking stride, he hopped up on the sill with a flick of his wrist and vanished from sight.

Outside, a barn owl winged its way slowly to a nearby tree as, on the sill next to Sarah's open window, a white sheet of paper floated slowly down to rest next to a clear glass globe balanced on a small golden ring.

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_All right, so I lied: I am writing more. This seems to be the story of accidents; everything written in it was never meant to come about until it did. I guess I just needed to bring this to _some_ kind of conclusion... I never could leave well enough alone. __Oh, and the first paragraph is to answer a slightly worried question someone posed to me: no, they never did anything...physical; that would be mean. __I always preferred a mischievous trickster Jareth to an evil one. So here, at least, he's just messing around. _=)

_This chapter was the first one I've had time to edit, but I have two more chapters written... review if you want more!_

_~Ash  
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	3. Chapter 3: Memories

_Disclaimer: __Henson, Lucas, and Froud, oh my! __Again, wonderful movie, but not mine._  
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_Chapter 3: Memories

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Sarah murmured and stirred slightly, unwilling to wake and reveling in the feeling of some phantom warmth against her lips and cheek. _What a nice dream…_

At that thought, she bolted upright, breathing hard. Shaking off a sense of déjà vu, Sarah glanced wildly around her room, then stopped dead, heart racing, as her gaze came to rest on the white dress draped over her desk chair. _No…it can't be_…

She whirled to look behind her, lips parted in either revulsion or anticipation of what she would find – only to find that there was nothing there.

For a moment, Sarah's brain and heart both came to a dead stop.

Slowly she reached out in pure confusion, as if expecting to touch something invisible as opposed to what simply wasn't there, and collapsed in sheer relief as the only thing her fingers felt was her sheets. Looking down at the hand not currently resting on her pillow, her relief deepened at the sight of her fourth finger bare of any flash of gold.

Sarah pushed her hair out of her face from where it had been disheveled from her frantic searching. "It must have really just been a dream," she murmured, her voice sounding almost slightly wistful, and strange in the quiet room. A quiet snicker sounded from beneath the dresser, but was shushed before it could be noticed by the bemused girl still staring at her bed.

Sarah shook her head. "I've heard people talk about dreams they couldn't believe weren't real on waking, but I never thought it was possible…" A small voice interrupted from the back of her mind. _Maybe it _was_ real…What about the dress?_

The girl echoed the thought softly. "I don't know… what about the dress?" Sarah whipped around to look at where the garment lay, still innocently hanging over the chair, and felt another brief flash of panic before she relaxed again.

Of course… the party she had come home from college to attend, her old school friend's commencement and "thank-god-it's-finally-over" party, where the younger girl had demanded that Sarah wear the long white "simply amazing dress that I found but that _I _could never wear," and where she had probably consumed more than enough (likely spiked) punch to account for some very odd dreams indeed…

Sarah sighed. In the few years since her little adventure to the realms of fantasy, she had vacillated between the certainty that yes, everything had actually happened, and the belief that after so many years of spending time alone reading odd books, she was finally going crazy. And the occasional late-night visits by her supernatural friends had done little to sway her one way over the other.

But once she had graduated from high school, with considerably more maturity, confidence and friends than she had entered it with, she had stopped calling. The mirror in her dorm room apparently had none of the supernatural powers of communication that the one in her old bedroom did, and she was home so little that calling on the beings she was more and more certain were either dreams or products of her imagination quickly became more trouble than it was worth.

Sarah sighed again as she slowly clambered out of bed. Creatures of her imagination or not, she did miss her friends. Though her little trip to the L – her trip outside the realm of normality had done wonders for her social life, leading her to pack up many of her more outlandish costumes in boxes and to treat other human beings with the same newfound appreciation she now had for her half brother, she sometimes found it hard to relate to people that knew nothing of the reason for her sudden maturity.

Dreams or no, her long talks through the mirror had helped assuage some of that tension, letting her vent to sympathetic ears the sheer stupidity of humans that knew nothing of magic, while being passed the latest events and gossip from the Labyrinth.

_Damn. I said it._ She had been trying to avoid the actual names of things for a while now, as even so much as thinking of them brought back the remembered pain. She slumped for a moment, thinking of all she had left behind her, ready to once again shove it to the back of her mind. Then Sarah straightened her back determinedly, looking boldly into the mirror that had once held faces not her own.

"No." Her face was defiant, if still a little flushed from her earlier panicking. "No, I won't push them away again. Dream or no, they deserve to be remembered." She leaned forward to touch the mirror softly. "Everyone from the Labyrinth… Hoggle, Sir Didymus, Ludo…" Her voice softened to little more than a whisper, unconsciously caressing. "Even him."

Sarah turned away from the mirror, a single tear trailing traitorously down her cheek. "I miss you all so much… Even you, Jareth." She gazed out the window, where an owl had sat watching so long ago. "Even you."

Then Sarah shivered in the cold breeze coming in through the window, the gust lifting a piece of paper from the sill. The girl reached forward automatically to catch it before it hit the ground, then froze. _I didn't leave the window open…_

Half in hope, half in despair, she sprinted forward to the open window and looked out, searching for some flash of feathers. The owl in the neighbor's tree held itself very still as the girl looked about wildly, a look of near-hope in her panicked eyes, but there was nothing to be found.

Coming down from her panicked high, Sarah shook her head. "Don't be silly," she scolded herself. "If it was him, he'd be long gone by now…" She looked down at the note in her hand, starting to unfold it, when her attention was caught by something sparkling on the window sill.

Her mouth opened, but no sound came out, so it was with lips parted softly and silently that she reached out with trembling hands to touch the crystal that lay shining innocently in a ray of sunlight. The note fell from her hand to the sill, coming open just enough so that she could see the first line, in beautifully ornate writing she had never seen before in her life.

_**Hello, precious. I've brought you a gift.**_

_**

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_Dun dun dun.... Relax, folks, the next chapter is on its way. Yes, Jareth is being a bit evil here, but hey, Sarah _did_ shake up his kingdom quite a bit... And as to the champion herself fainting so much... honestly, if you were confronted with the man who was at once your best dream and worst nightmare, and you thought you had just unwittingly _married_ him, what would _you_ do? _

_For anyone who's curious, Sarah is about 18 or so here and in her freshman year of college. She hasn't talked to anyone from the Labyrinth for over a year... Wouldn't you be desperate for a little bit of magic in your life too?  
_

_Thanks to everybody who reassured me that my writing isn't crap... The more you review, the more motivated I am to finish editing the next and last chapter! (Shameless? Who, me? Naw...)  
_

_~Ash  
_


	4. Chapter 4: Revelations

_Disclaimer: Sadly, I still haven't blackmailed the authorities into giving me Jareth - *coughs* Ah, that is, they haven't sold me the movie rights yet.  


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_Chapter 4: Revelations

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Sarah sat down hard. In the last few minutes, she had vacillated so many times between fear and relief that the flashes of both were beginning to lose their devastating potency. So this time she only breathed hard for a few seconds before reaching up to unfold the note the rest of the way, reading it with mingled hope and apprehension.

_**Hello, precious. I've brought you a gift.**_

_**I apologize for the fright I gave you. Playing a little trick on you so soon after your wonderfully devastating dream was simply too good of an opportunity to resist. Consider it a bit of payback, if you will. And don't worry. The first event was, as you had first thought it, just a dream. Even I am not that devious. Most of the time, anyway.**_

Sarah laughed a bit breathlessly. Even in writing, his sarcasm and rather...quirky...sense of humor were all too evident. Of course, this _was_ the man who had set the Cleaners on her for fun…

_**I hope you will forgive me for my impropriety in entering your room without invitation. If you find that you are missing something important, please inform me so that I can properly smack my kleptomaniac little goblins. You can communicate with me for other things as well, if you wish; simply say my name to the crystal.**_

Sarah raised the smooth globe, turning it slightly but still finding no imperfections. _It's just a convenient excuse to let me talk to him. But still... _She lowered the crystal tremblingly, looking back to the missive and almost letting her lips shape the word that would call him to her side… Then she set it down quickly, too quickly, almost knocking the globe off the little stand that kept it from rolling off the sill. Then that too caught her eye, and she set the crystal on the floor so she could pick up and stare in consternation at the small gold ring.

_**Oh, and do please keep the ring. It was meant simply as a prop for my little performance, but I believe it is quite a fetching piece of jewelry, and thus should not be wasted on goblins. Besides, you, my girl, need something to remind you to stop taking things for granted. I had thought you had learned that lesson already… But perhaps I was too hasty.  
Lately I find I have been too hasty in many things... **_

_Too soon... __just a child..._ Echoes of whispered, half-remembered words raced through her mind, and Sarah sighed. Three years ago, she _had_ still been a child... But everything had changed in the Labyrinth. She wondered what it would be like to run the gauntlet now. There are definitely some choices she would have made differently... Sarah quickly shook all thoughts of peaches out of her head.

_**But I digress. If you no longer wish to have contact with the denizens of my kingdom, you can simply dispose of this crystal. However, it can also function much as your mirror once did, if you seek to contact your friends when you are away from home. I believe Hogbreath in particular has been complaining that he misses your company. **_

Sarah laughed again, heartier this time. He always forgot Hoggle's name, if only just to annoy the little goblin. Then the full meaning of the message sunk in, and she gasped. _It can function as your mirror once did..._ She could talk to her friends again! And if her mirror _didn't_ work anymore, then she wasn't completely to blame...

Then Sarah hung her head. She hadn't talked to her friends in over a year, and when her longtime enemygave her a way to contact them, she started trying to absolve herself of guilt? _I can't believe myself sometimes... Maybe I haven't grown up as much as I thought. But I _can_ reach them now, and I will... even if it's because of Jareth. I guess I'll have to ask Hoggle to thank him for me - _ Sarah giggled at the thought. _All right, so maybe not Hoggle then. But someone..._ Sarah looked back at the piece of paper she still held.

_**There's no need to thank me; I believe my little act of retribution to be thanks enough. You taste quite good, by the way. Rather like peaches. I'm only sorry you happened to be asleep at the time; I believe the experience would have been enjoyable for both of us. You've grown, precious - you're certainly not a child anymore.  
**_

Sarah could practically hear the smirk in the last sentence as she pressed a hand to her lips in sheer disbelief. "He… kissed me? Jareth kissed me?" Her voice turned from wondering to furious. "I can't believe that bastard actually kissed me! _I was asleep! _And he dares insinuate that I would have kissed him _back?!_ That pervert... I'll show _him_ how much I've grown - by beating his face into the ground..." Sarah was about to shred the note in frustration when the last few lines caught her eye.

_**There, I believe you should be angry enough now to banish all traces of sleep for your system. Consider it a wake-up call. And do try to guard your mind better in the future; as enjoyable as this particular enterprise turned out to be, I tend to dislike being pulled into others' dreams. Now, though, I confess I am rather grateful for the opportunity to contact you.  
**_

_**Believe it or not, precious, I'd like a truce. I have no more grievances against you - you are hardly the same foolish child as before - and I would like to at least make peace between us, for however long it can last. All I ask is that you do not forget us, Sarah. Do not forget the kingdom you always dreamed of, do not forget your friends… And remember me. Whether with love or with loathing, remember me - for I find I cannot forget you. **_

_**Your obedient servant, **_

_**Jareth **_

Sarah's anger faded as quickly as it had come. Perverted, arrogant bastard or no, he had used her name… and those last lines sounded almost like he was… pleading. _Remember me…_

"Remember you?" she murmured aloud, then laughed softly. "Oh, Jareth, how could I forget?" Sarah paused a moment and gazed into the crystal so much like the one that had once held all her dreams. "How could I forget anything, when those thirteen hours made me who I am? And really, all because of you..."

She picked up the ring from the sill and looked at it a moment, watching the sunlight sparkle into the mazelike patterns carved onto the outside and the infinity symbol etched onto the inside of the band.

"A truce, huh?" she said contemplatively. "A truce..." Sarah gazed at the crystal a moment more, then slipped the ring onto the third finger of her left hand. "Well, Jareth, for as long as it lasts... You've got yourself a deal."

Sarah looked at the gold band a moment, resting next to the place an engagement ring would sit. A snatch of song went through her mind, a tune she had heard a long time ago, before that fateful night. "_It's only forever…"_

She smiled and picked up the crystal, tossing it lightly in one hand as she looked again at the last lines of the note. "Oh, I'll remember you all right, Goblin King. With love and loathing both, for now and always…"

Sarah grinned out the open window, raising her face to the sun. "It's only forever, really. And that's not long at all."

The owl winging its way happily home reveled in the sound of her laughter ringing from the trees.

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_I had a lot of fun writing this (and I'm glad it's finally stopped fighting to get out of my head!) and I confess I rather like how it turned out. __Honestly, with these two, I figured a truce would be the closest thing to happiness either of them could get. __There's room for a sequel here, or a companion story anyway, or I could even write a couple more chapters and make up an actual plot! (le gasp!) _

_Anyway, this is the end of _Now and Always_. Thanks to everybody who reviewed: SeducingReason, notwritten, hazlgrnLizzy, Adriana, and satta - reviews are what keeps us authors going! And, of course, to Kali Rose, who makes me actually write the crap that's in my head... You rock, grrl =_)

_As I've said before, if this gives you ideas, feel free to write... just tell me please so I can read it! And, now and always...** Please review!**_

_~Ash_


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